Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Highway Robbery

“This is a troll bridge,” said the troll. It scratched under its loincloth. “You gotta pay the troll to cross it.”

Hawthorne clutched at his briefcase. The cars were backing up behind him. “This is extortion! Robbery!”

“It is what it is.” The troll extended a gnarled hand.

“Villains! Criminals!” Hawthorne cried. He fumbled in a pocket and came out with a small spray can. “Back off, troll! I’ve got MAFE1 Spray!”

The troll grinned, displaying its fangs. It rummaged at its belt and came up with a laminated badge. “Tsk. Assaultin’ a city employee. The toll just doubled, chump.”


1 – Metallic Anti-Faerie Emergency Spray

2 comments:

Loren Eaton said...

Have you ever read Neil Gaiman's "Troll Bridge"? Very similar set up, only with a radically different tone.

Scattercat said...

Indeed. :-D I'm a big fan of Neil Gaiman, as hopefully is not too blatantly obvious from my writing. This story felt more Pratchett-esque to me, however.